January 07, 2008

Random Coolness (Part 3)

More of the small details that made a big impression:

1. The Spider-Mobile: In addition to its sporty dune-buggy design, the introduction of the Spider-Mobile in the early 1970's was also a masterful parody of crass commercialism and celebrity endorsements. As part of their campaign to sell a new non-polluting car engine, the ad agency of Carter and Lombardo convinced a reluctant (yet cash-strapped) Spider-Man to lend his name to the promotion. With the help of gear-head Johnny "Human Torch" Storm, the Spider-Mobile made its debut in Spider-Man #130 (1974)...becoming a source of constant embarrassment and irritation for Web-Head until it sunk into the Hudson River less than a year later.

2. Green Lantern's Oath: Evoking the mystery of a magical incantation and the cadence of a childhood nursery rhyme, the solemn verse recited by Hal Jordan as he recharges his power ring never fails to send a shiver up my spine. Cynics and hipsters hate it for its corny earnestness, but that's exactly why I love it (click on the image to the left for a larger view).

3. Marvel Comics origin summaries: Always located on the first inside page (or "splash page") of 1970's Marvel comics, the concise "capsule origins" of the title characters were mini-wonders of streamlined drama hooks. To be fair, DC tried them here and there, but Marvel's always seemed much more punchy and enticing (click on the image for maximum dramatic effect).

Was it just me, or did you also hear the voice of that "In a world..." movie trailer guy when you read that capsule origin?

4. Kirby Tech: One of the subtle wonders of Silver Age Marvel Comics was artist Jack Kirby's flair for whimsical, highly-stylized machinery. "Kirby Tech" (as it's since become known) covered costumes, weapons, vehicles, or even entire city-scapes with its imaginative design and hyperactive pseudo-functionality. Here's what Joe Sinnott (Kirby's greatest inker) said about the jaw-dropping image below (from Fantastic Four #64, 1967):

"One of his most outstanding devices appeared on the splash page of issue #64. You can imagine just how long it took me to ink this panel. I must have lost money on that page spending so much time with all that intricate 'Kirby Tech,' but it was well worth the satisfaction of completing such a page with Jack. Those splash pages were always much anticipated by the fans."

The Spider-Mobile: What's even better is, if I remember right, it's even a metatextual commentary! For some reason, I remember Stan Lee being the playful one in the story, but it was long after he stopped writing the book, and I don't even think he even had much of anything to do with day-to-day operations, but.... Apparently the Spider-Mobile was created as part of a lucrative deal with Corgi, the toy company. But part of the deal was that Marvel had to feature the Spider-Mobile in actual Spider-Man comic books. So this deal from on high was presented to the actual comic book people, and the Spider-Mobile Saga was the result! :) I especially liked its use in the Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries.

Marvel Comics Origin Summaries: I'd love to get a collection of these all in one place. They're great, concise, snappy summaries that don't just tell you about the characters, but why they're GREAT! I try to emulate them for my City of Heroes character descriptions.

Have you noticed that DC has lately been using similar well-written character intro captions in a lot of books? Most obviously in Brave and Bold, but they're turning up in a bunch of other places too.

The Spider-Mobile: What's even better is, if I remember right, it's even a metatextual commentary!

Hey, thanks for the added insight! It was already great for its satire of the cynical advertising biz, but your account of the Corgi deal makes the Spider-Mobile an even more interesting bit of comic book lore. It would follow that DC probably had a similar toy deal in place for the Supermobile that made its comic book appearance three or four years later.

" I especially liked its use in the Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries."

You know, I've been meaning to track that mini-series down for some time (having heard only good things about it), thanks for the reminder to get on that!

Marvel Comics Origin Summaries: I'd love to get a collection of these all in one place.

Sounds like an idea for a recurring feature to me! Just kidding.

Not really (gears turning. cogs spinning)

"I try to emulate them for my City of Heroes character descriptions."

I'll have to check those out. Do you have a link?

"Have you noticed that DC has lately been using similar well-written character intro captions in a lot of books? Most obviously in Brave and Bold, but they're turning up in a bunch of other places too."

Yes! I have noticed. Mark Waid is especially adept at writing them, as is Geoff Johns on the various books he writes (such as JSA and Action). Very much noted and appreciated. The "lost art" of encapsulation, so to speak.

In DC: The New Frontier, vol 2, Hal, upon embracing the ring notes to himself that he feels like he should be saying some sort of pledge. This is before he was contacted by Oa."

Yeah! I loved that scene, too...as I did 90% of New Frontier (I wasn't sure where Cooke was going with some of the more subversive themes of the earlier issues (violent racism, Wonder Woman embroiled in political entanglements)....which seemed to drop completely out of sight by issues five and six. Still, just a masterpiece, if not absolutely with storytelling, then visually.

I'm assuming you're as happy as I am that DC and Cooke will be publishing a "New Frontier" special early this year.

Mark,
My City of Heroes blurbs are scattered in variant forms, some in the game itself, some elsewhere, and version control is scanty at best. But I have some here:
http://68.178.145.67/index.php/User:Suedenim#Characters

The one at the link for Ashley Porter is the snappiest and most similar to the desired effect, Major Maiden's is a bit wordy, and Cap'n Booty's is a silly first-person piratespeak variant....

Characters in the game have a goodly amount of space to use for descriptions, and I've noticed it's not necessarily wise to fill it all, or at least not up-front. Marvel knew what it was doing! If I see a big, dense block of text, I tend to move on....

On the Spider-Mobile, yeah, Superman's Super-Mobile was created around the same time for the same Corgi toy line, if I remember right. The Super-Mobile at least had some vaguely plausible purpose, in that Superman could use the otherwise superfluous vehicle in star systems with red suns, to gather up Kryptonite, etc.

For some reason they only reprinted that Spidey/Torch series in a digest edition that went out of print and is hard to find. Not sure if the originals are scarce too, but it's worth seeking out.

Mark, you've probably covered this sometime in the past, but one of the coolest old things that Marvel used to do was those hilarious credit blocks (like this one, for example). Stan Lee at his finest!

There are many times that I open a new comic book up and have absolutely no idea who these people are and what they are supposed to be
doing! It's a big reason (aside from the absurd cost!) I haven't read a new ongoing series in years

As a huge Kirby fan all I can say is
"Yes, Yes Yes, Kirby tech forever"
I love the stuff. Just insane inventions and it never fails to amaze me that he could just make crazy device after crazy device and never run out of cool visuals for them.

As for the Green Lantern Oath I second what Thomas Aylesworth said: Anyone who doesn't like it for its cornyness probably shouldn't be reading superhero comics anyway.

Right on Thomas!

These are the same people who complain about ships making noises in space and the fact that no one ever recognizes the whole Clark Kent/Superman thing.

PLUS!: I used the Green Lantern Oath to pick up a hot girl in highschool! (Thank You Hal Jordan!)